New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol 2, No. 1, April, 1915 eBook

We also received an undertaking from the Russian Government
in return for the advances which we were prepared
to make, that Russia would facilitate the export of
Russian produce of every kind that may be required
by the allied countries. This, I believe, will
be one of the most fruitful parts of the arrangements
entered into. An arrangement has also been made
about the purchases by the allied countries in the
neutral countries. There was a good deal of confusion.
We were all buying in practically the same countries;
we were buying against each other; we were putting
up prices; it ended not merely in confusion, but I
am afraid in a good deal of extravagance, because we
were increasing prices against each other. It
was very necessary that there should be some working
arrangement that would eliminate this element of competition
and enable us to co-ordinate, as it were, these orders.
There will be less delay, there will be much more efficiency,
and we shall avoid a good deal of the extravagance
which was inevitable owing to the competition between
the three countries.

I have done my best to summarize very briefly the
arrangements which have been entered into, and I would
only like to say this in conclusion. After six
months of negotiation by the cable and three days of
conferring face to face we realized that better results
were achieved by means of a few hours of businesslike
discussion by men anxious to come to a workable arrangement
than by reams of correspondence. Misconceptions
and misunderstandings were cleared away in a second
which otherwise might take weeks to ferment into mischief,
and it was our conclusion that these conferences might
with profit to the cause of the Allies be extended
to other spheres of co-operation. [Cheers.]

Britain’s Unsheathed Sword

By H.H. Asquith, England’s Prime Minister

Stating the estimated costs of the
war to Great Britain, outlining the operations
of the French and British allied fleets in the
Dardanelles, declaring the Allies’ position in
retaliation for the German “war zone”
decree against Great Britain, and reaffirming
the chief terms of peace, stated in his Guildhall
speech of last November, on which alone England would
consent to sheathe the sword, the following speech,
delivered in the House of Commons on March 1,
1915, by Prime Minister Asquith, is one of the
most important of the war.

In Committee of Supply.

Mr. Asquith, who was loudly cheered on rising,
moved the supplementary vote of credit of L37,000,000
to meet the expenditure on naval and military operations
and other expenditure arising out of the war during
the year 1914-1915. He said: